RICHMOND, Va. — Work crews still were searching for a time capsule late Thursday morning that they think is buried inside the pedestal that was under a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
The statue stood in Richmond for more than a century until its removal on Wednesday. Crews brought down the 12-ton statue as people along Monument Avenue watched and, in some cases, sang or chanted.
Gov. Ralph Northam had ordered the removal of the statue in 2020. There were a number of legal challenges to his order. When the case came before the Virginia Supreme Court recently, the court ruled in favor of the state, allowing the removal to take place.
“After 133 years, the statue of Robert E. Lee has finally come down — the last Confederate statue on Monument Avenue, and the largest in the South," said Northam. "The public monuments reflect the story we choose to tell about who we are as a people. It is time to display history as history, and use the public memorials to honor the full and inclusive truth of who we are today and in the future.”
PHOTOS: Robert E. Lee statue comes down in Richmond
Historians believe that people placed a copper time capsule in the cornerstone of the pedestal on October 27, 1887. Records from the Library of Virginia suggest that there were about 60 objects placed inside it, many of which were related to the Confederacy.
The governor's office said that on March 22, 2021, Historic Jamestown scanned the pedestal and found a void in its base where the time capsule likely would be.
Crews found themselves were having difficulty Thursday finding the precise location of the time capsule. Then a crane they were using to lift heavy pieces of the cornerstone broke down, stalling work until another crane was brought in a few hours later.
Meanwhile, a new time capsule was placed inside the pedestal Thursday. The new time capsule contains items reflective of current times, including an expired vial of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, a Black Lives Matter sticker, and a photograph of a Black ballerina with her fist raised near the Lee statue after racial justice protests erupted following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.